Chapter 17, Page 21a: Livestreaming supervillain (Patreon)

Hailey’s glow-up has officially gone supervillain.

After losing her brief taste of social-media stardom, our favorite waitress has returned with a brand-new persona, a brand-new cape, and a deeply unhealthy relationship with engagement metrics.

Meet Countess Influencia — the Validation Vampire.

Her first act of villainy? Livestreaming her own crime spree and charming Fairmount City one “Like” at a time. Unfortunately, this isn’t just a local problem anymore. The hearts are flowing from everywhere… and every one of them is feeding her.

Fairmount News Network is on the scene — technically — although everyone in the studio seems to be a little distracted by her feed.

The scariest part?

She remembered to ask people to subscribe.

Transcript

Panel 1At the Fairmount News Network studio. Someone off panel whispers, “Psst! Ms. Takahaski! You’re on the air!” Hana Takahaski looks up from her smartphone and says, “Oh! Umm… We’ve got breaking news!”

Panel 2Hana says, “We’re getting live reports of an attack on the downtown area.” A stream of hearts begins floating from her phone.

Panel 3The scene widens. Hana is still on her phone. The cameraman is also on his phone. Streams of hearts flow from both phones and from other unseen people in the studio. Hana says, “She may be the first supervillain to livestream her own crime spree! Moreover…” Then, distracted by her phone, she says, “Hold on…” Her phone displays the text: “YAS, Queen!”

Panel 4 (inset)Exterior view of the Fairmount News Network building. Several streams of hearts flow outward from inside the building and from the street below. Hana says, “Moreover, while Fairmount City is her current target, she has already taken the whole WORLD by storm!”

Panel 5Hailey, now transformed into Countess Influencia, floats above the city as streams of hearts flow directly into her body. She says, “Look upon Countess Influencia and despair!” Then, in smaller type: “And don’t forget to smash that ‘Like’ button and subscribe!”